Dungeon of the Impassive Hostage
by PeechTao
Summary: Mace's new padawan is accused of killing his Master, QuiGons friend. will Qui try to help him, or condemn him? When the padawan turns sith, what choice is left for the Mace? But is the apprentice hiding something deeper?
1. The Truth Behind His Silence

own nothing but the premise and beloved Taka!  
This is my only typed chapter, but the book is finished. My newest mystery, full of headless master's, total freakouts, psychopaths, and yes, even my favorite detectives, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Remember, my first chapter is always vague, but this little beaut is sure to wet your apatite. ENJOY!

pronunciation (since that sorta stuff matters to me) : Taka (two short a sounds like Mama)---- Nashat (Nuh-shot)

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Dungeon of the Impassive Hostage

"Smile."

A silent reply.

"Raise your head."

Another silent reply.

"That is a bad dog now." The man ran his finger up a bar of the cage, peering at the form hidden inside. "Oh, come now, do you not want to play?"

The person to whom he spoke sprung at him, arms outstretched to strangle the life out of the man, his tormentor.

The first moved back just as quickly. His own grin continued to twist his lips. "Taka, Taka. What will I do with you?" He paced around the cage, always just beyond his prisoner's grasp. His feet stopped at a mass obstructing his path. "Shall I ask your Master what I am to do?"

Taka wriggled his fingers, pressing his shoulder against the bars in an attempt to reach his beloved Master. "Don't you touch him, Reno!" the prisoner growled. "Don't you dare!"

Reno lifted a head, which had been severed from its body, and spun it around. "Dear Master of Nashat," Reno said, shaking the head like an eight ball as its eyes rolled up and down and the decaying brains inside could be heard sloshing back and forth in their juices, "What shall the affliction of your Padawan?" In a single, swift motion he brought over a chair and slammed the head atop it. Reno stuck his face a mere inches from Taka's, slapping the prisoner's hands away as they pried for position around Reno's slender throat.

"You will suffer, as I have suffered. You will break and scream before I am finished. The Jedi are nothing but liars and Sith on the inside." He used the Force to lift Taka into the air despite his struggles. "I will bring out the Sith in you."

He walked away, robe fluttering behind him as Taka fell to the damp floor of his cell.

The intercom overhead buzzed and cackled Reno's voice recording.

"You are a Sith. The Jedi have lied and deceived you. They left you here to rot. Your Master was weak and insignificant. You killed him. You killed him!"

Taka curled into the far corner of his cell. He stuck his head between his knees, avoiding the piercing dead eyes of his Master's skull. He whispered to himself in shuttered breaths ridden with emotion and tears. "I am not a Sith, I am not a Sith . . ."

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so how was it? please review! i would like to know what your minds are thinking and what little children ran away screaming! 


	2. The Resistance of ObiWan

The plot thickens! muhahaha!

Disclaimer: Lucas owns it all! GAH!

Chapter 2 -Resistance of Obi-Wan-

"I told you, you would get in trouble!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, before letting his food tray hit the table.

"You did not! You told me, do it Garen, it will be enjoyable, Garen." the said boy shot back, sitting also.

Siri sat across from them and watched the fight in silence at first.

"I did not say that!"

"Did to! You were standing right there, Siri, you saw him!"

No she smiled, drinking her juice. "Yeah you were there, and did encourage it, Obi-Wan. Besides, you are both stupid."

The two scowled at her but after a moment of dry stairs they laughed easily and continued eating.

The mood in the morning breakfast eatery was gleeful and sleepy at the same moment. Many were drifting in and out of yawns and laughs were common. The Council entered at their usually hour, receiving a number of bowed heads in reverence from those who they passed their eyes over. They sat at a long table a few paces from Obi-Wan and his group. This would not have normally offended the friends, for nothing was more exciting then eavesdropping on matters the Council deemed important enough to discuss over breakfast, however with a recent nomination, the problem arose.

Through the door walked such nomination. It was a young human, nearing or past twenty, no one was quite sure. He was scarred and menacing though he made no expression or emotion of any kind. Some whispered he was incapable of it. From his bottom lip began a wide, scalpel like scar that stretched down his chin, under his neck, and down his shirt. It was in speculation how far it went. As he entered, the room fell silent. Dead silent. No forks stirred to hungry mouths, no beings offered whispered enchantments, not even Siri had the strength to swallow her mouth full of food.

He approached at the direction of Master Mace Windu who had taken him, temporarily as his apprentice. Once the man sat, the room returned with shutters to normal.

"Did you here?" Garen muttered, "They say he is to be a Knight soon."

Siri swallowed her food with shock. "A Knight!" she exclaimed, louder then she would have liked.

The man turned slightly and stared directly at her with his piercing blue/green eyes. Just as slowly he returned to his first position.

Siri looked away quickly. "But that's not fair!" she continued, lower, "Why does he get accelerated training? Because they found him on some slaver ship?"

Garen shrugged. "I'm not sure. That's just what I heard."

She looked evilly. "Did you hear it when you switched the men's and women's fresher signs?"

Score one for Siri.

Garen stuck his tongue out at her. "For that, you get no candy." He pulled out a bag and offered a piece to Obi-Wan who was half reaching for it before he nearly fainted off his chair.

His Master had come into the room and was over at the Council's table for a moment before approaching Obi-Wan, the young Knight-to-be in tow.

Obi-Wan wanted to feel sick. Everyone was fearful of the strange Padawan. He was said to have even murdered his own Master, though no one could prove it, and though Obi-Wan wasn't one to trust rumors.

"Padawan, this is Taka Nashat, newly re-arrived to the Temple. Taka, this is my apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his two friends, Siri Tachi and Garen Muln." He indicated the three with a gesture. Hearing his name called, Qui-Gon offered Taka a seat, then returned to the Councilors.

Taka sat beside Siri, uneasy it would seem through his placid expression.

"So we heard you were captured." Garen instantly spoke up, receiving shocked stairs from his two friends. "What?" he said.

"I was, about six months." Taka replied.

"What happened?"

"I do not talk about it."

"Did you really kill your Master?"

Now Obi-Wan slapped him in the back of his head and Siri kicked him beneath the table.

He sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll shut up!" he chewed a piece of candy before finally remembered his manners. "Oh, do you want some?'

Taka shook his head, looking down in his lap, anxious as to what exactly he was supposed to be doing. He had left his tray of breakfast beside Master Windu. It was obvious the three were uncomfortable around him, as all others in the Temple were. But that didn't bother him anymore. They could say what they wanted. Let the rumors spread like wildfire. When he became a Knight, he would never hear them. He would burry himself in some stray system and never see the Temple again but to receive orders and change ships.

"You don't talk much, do you?" It was now Siri who spoke.

He slouched his shoulders, standing and walking back to his table. "Not anymore." he replied in a breath. He dipped his head in a slight reverence for Master Qui-Gon Jinn, whom he passed.

Qui-Gon sat beside Obi-Wan. "So, did he say anything?"

"Unless you count "I don't talk about it" as saying something." Siri pipped up.

The Master seemed downcast. "I was hoping you would get a little more from him. You see, the Council has just assigned Obi-Wan and myself to investigate what happened during his months of captivity." He looked down a moment, a sign Obi-Wan knew as meaning he was disturbed, nervous. He looked back up. "His Master was a dear friend of mine. It is better for all that we find out what happened."

Now it was Obi-Wan's turn to be dejected, and more so when he learned his Master was wishing them to leave at _that_ moment. He sighed, shoveled what was left of his fruit in his mouth, pocketed a muffin and Garen's candy, then trailed Jinn out. Garen and Siri offered him a sympathetic eye.

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general courtesy states: ReView!


	3. The Medical Report

well, here's the next chapter! Sorry If I haven't thrown out some personal e-mails to my reviewers lately. As I told the "Heart of the Battousia" fans, my cat just got hit by a car :(. he's doing better, but broke his jaw in 2 places, his eye is recessed into his skull, and the doc had to pull three teeth and wire his jaw closed. Yeah, BIG important stuff. Then I had to attend an "what happens if an animl escapes" seminar with my work. talk about fun stuff!

on with the book!

Chapter 3 - The Medical Report-

The first step for the Master and Padawan was the Healing Rooms. When Taka had first been found by a Jedi team, struggling for life on the outskirts of the universe, floating on a slaver ship, he was in more than a poor state. Literally hanging onto life, he was placed in a bacta tank for two weeks. The attending physician, Winna Di Uni, brought out his file.

"Nashat, did you say? He was a difficult one for sure." She displayed a hologram of Taka's bones and organs. "I think these pictures are self explanatory. He is human, and yet physically he appears like this." The three dimensional image turned in a slow rotation to display from front to back, shifting from a skin view, to muscles, to organs, to bones, and back again.

Qui-Gon could tell, even with his slight experience in anatomy and physiology, where the deformities lay. Most of the major organs, (one kidney, the left lung, small intestine, half the liver) were all missing along with the four lower ribs. The shoulder blades were cut in half, the lower pieces gone. The short bones of his lower arms, the ulnas, were also taken, causing the arms and wrists to turn and twist. On the skin, the scars revealed all the hidden pain.

Obi-Wan tried to keep a straight face. He looked at the face of Taka, spinning slowly before him. His eyes were open, completely unemotional. A chill raced with vigor down his spine. He shook the eyes away from him and tuned back in to what Winna was saying.

"We used bio-metallic substitutes to replace the missing bone. His shoulder's were a problem at first, we ended up removing all the bone and replaced it with a light metal. Afterwards he was able to grasp forks, spoons, his lightsaber, things we never thought he would before. The liver is regenerating on its own. There is not much we can do for the other organs but offer extra oxygen support. Most humans can maintain the normal oxygen levels on Coruscant, he can not. He needs about twice that, so we have to monitor him closely whenever he fights. At night he uses specialized breathalysers."

She turned off the holo file and handed it to Qui-Gon with a stack of medical reports.

"He never spoke to us about captivity, but in his sleep he sometimes murmured about it. There is a set of tapes in there, after a while we recorded him. I hope it helps."

Qui-Gon thanked her for it. "One more question, did any one visit him? Any record of close friends we could contact?"

"Here?" She asked, "Some appeared here and there, but I don't know that anyone knew him very well. We had a terrible time of keeping the nosier ones out. Those who just wanted to see the scars."

He nodded, leading Obi-Wan out and to their apartment. Obi-Wan coincidently lost his appetite. The two threw off their robes and sat at the couch. Qui-Gon passed half the doc files to his apprentice and began to read himself.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Obi-Wan asked scanning the pages indignantly. The last thing he felt like doing was passing his first free day in months by looking over a mountain of unintelligible medical notes for a padawan he was sure was guilty of murder.

"Anything a nurse may have written, something he may have said out of sorts. Or even a reported cause for removing so many vital structures. A hypothesis."

"That was bizarre!" Obi-Wan suddenly exclaimed. "I never thought a being could live through such an ordeal. It is no wonder he is silent, but I still think . . ."

"Do not fall prey to quick judgement, Padawan. It is only the cause of grief and superstition." Qui-Gon looked up from his papers with a sigh. "Yes, it was all quite horrific. All the more reason to find his Master. I am not exactly looking forward to this."

With the previous reprimand, Obi-Wan understood Jinn wished to concentrate in silence. So silence he gave, as the hours wasted by.

:-:-:

Darkness set in and Obi-Wan could only consider the various things he could be doing if Taka Nashat had only been sane enough to give a simple answer.

_"Sorry, Master Windu, I have killed him, Master Windu. I hope I may become a Knight now!"_

He sat his head back and let his mind drift over the scenario, his ears hearing, but not necessarily listening, to the hours of muffled, static, recordings that revealed little more then the wheezing breaths of the sleeping patient. He had just about decided to shut the tape off when a blood wrenching scream projected through his head set. In complete surprise, he leapt from his seat and flung the ear set off.

Qui-Gon opened his eyes and set his own tape down. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure." the apprentice replied. He composed himself and set his head phones back on to listen.

Screams and groans similar to a struggle were heard. As they faded and the ringing heart monitors in the background became normal a peculiar sort of chant rose behind the shuffling of nurses and barked orders. It was soft, he strained with all his training to distinguish it from the other clattering noise. He held his breath in surprise.

"I am not a SithI am not a SithI am not a Sith–" the words spoken so rapidly they nearly tumbled over each other.

Obi-Wan passed the tape to his Master and watched his expression as the tape replayed.

"Very peculiar." Qui-Gon muttered, switching it off. He pulled a page from the file the two had been working to reshuffle. He showed it to Obi-Wan grimly.

The page looked as if it was a medical script, usually it hangs of the wall beside a bed for the Healer's need. All across its front, back, sides if it were possible, the same vague phrase.

"Scribbled in a subliminal sleep, I imagine. Tomorrow morning we will take it to the Council. Get some rest if you can. I know I am too disturbed now for it." Qui-Gon slip the disk into the file and set them on the table apart from the unneeded information.

Obi-Wan stood again and stretched. He still had yet to eat from that morning, so he went to make up something. Outside a storm had rolled in, masking the stars from view and covering the city scape with rain and thunder.


	4. He Was Listening

**A/N** I just made a major change in the storyline here. I had it pre-done, ending in two chapters, but I jsut added this whole new twisty thingy that I know you'll all hate me for later . . . .BUT, it is how it is.

**disclaimor:** I don't own anything! (cries)

**Chapter 4 -He Was Listening!-**

Obi-Wan woke that morning to find his Master already gone. He checked his chrono to see if he had overslept, but it simply displayed seven-thirty. The eatery was barely opened at this time. Pulling on his cloak and picking up his boots to put on in the living area, he looked for signs of his Master. The door reveled a short note.

_Dear Padawan- A friend called me away early this morning. Something about a forgotten birth date. I would have woken you to join, but he specified certain areas of entertainment that I know would not suit you. I have contacted the Council, and our meeting about Taka is tomorrow morning. I may be away most of the day. Tusulo birth customs are quite interesting, I wish you could have seen it, but I will describe it to you later. Enjoy a well deserved day off!_

_-Qui-Gon_

Obi-Wan sighed and sat to pull on his boots. He knew a long lecture about some very uninteresting custom would hit his door later, but he would deal with that when it came. Right now, he would take the day he desperately needed. His first stop: food.

:-:-:

Obi-Wan's spoon hoovered in a spot between his mouth and his bowl of rice cereal. The hair on the back of his neck stood on bitter end, his nerves firing doses of adrenalin as his hot breath slowly boiled the milk in his spoon. When the utensil began to visibly quiver with the quake of his hand, he set it down. A croaking voice of fear grunted out,

"Y-you saw what?"

Garen nodded incessantly. "I told you, Taka Nashat was listening outside your door last night. He spent at least an hour walking up and down the hall, trying to appear inconspicuous. Me and Reft watched him. Once or twice he made to go inside, but never did."

Obi-Wan took a mighty gulp of fear he was trying to suppress the surrounding Padawans from sensing. "And, you didn't tell me, why!"

"I was worried he would hear." Garen explained defensively. "At the end, he appeared really shaken up, freaking out almost. He put a hand on his lightsaber, and I though he was going to cut your door down, but he stormed off instead. He ran down the hall."

"We tried to follow." Reft now added, "But we lost him."

Obi-Wan pushed his bowl away. To think he had come so close to dueling with a fellow initiate! To the death even! Would he had frozen? Would Taka have killed Qui-Gon the way he killed his own Master? He sat his elbows on the table and but his head in his hands with a groan.

"Padawan Kenobi?"

The apprentice nearly leapt into the air. He stood instantly, awkwardly trying to reset his nearly toppled bowl of cereal. He stood straight again to face Master Ki-Adi-Mundi. "Yes, sir?"

Ki gave a skeptical eye. "I was going to ask if you had seen Padawan Nashat. He was missing from this morning's exercises."

Obi-wan tried to appear casual. "Oh, well I haven't seen him since yesterday morning." as he spoke he moved to sit, mouthing lightly _Speak and I kill you!_ to Garen, who quickly clammed up. "I will keep an eye out, however."

"We hope that you will. He did not return to his quarter last night, and Master Windu has yet to find him. Please contact us if this changes." He bowed lightly and departed in his stately manner.

Obi-Wan held his brow once more. "Sweet stars. He haunts my door at night, and now he is vanished." He suddenly shot up again, causing Reft to nearly fall from his chair in shock. "Master Qui-Gon! Come on!" He drug the two away to his quarters. Once there he dug out the note his Master had left and threw it on the table between them.

Garen looked it over. "I do not know your Master's writing. But conspiracy tells me it could be a fake."

Obi-Wan shrank into his seat, body scrunched tightly to try and prevent the feelings of panic and frailty to enter him. "What if Taka took him?"

Reft shook his head, poking some of the strange articles the table from one of Qui-Gon's many collections. He watched as a small bubble immersed inn liquid slowly changed into a spectrum of colors. "Your Master's probably fine. Why not just call him?"

He sat up and smiled, instantly taking out his comm unit and wondering why he never thought of that before. He waited on the other line as the connection beeped slowly. His friends closed in, looking intently.

One minute passed, Obi-Wan was becoming worried.

Thirty more seconds, he was sweating.

Two full minutes, he hung up and flung himself against the cushions.

Garen patted his leg. "It'll be all right. Maybe Taka wont kill him."

Obi-Wan flipped his eyes opened, tilted his head up, and threw Garen Muln the filthiest of looks. The room tone went off, meaning someone was at the door. He stood slowly, already exhausted with the day and opened the door before looking to see who it was.

A form burst in, soaking wet from the still raining day just beyond the window frames. His hair was plastered about his face, robes dripping onto the carpets, his breath heaving with shutters and wheezes. By the time the Padawan looked up, he already could sense who it was.

"Taka . . ." he whispered in total fear.

The senior apprentice looked at him gravely. "I must speak with you. Immediately." he looked at the others. "Alone."

Garen and Reft took their leave instantly, rushing out and nearly helping close the sliding door behind them.

When they had gone, Taka crossed the room and looked out the window. He stood there a moment, scanning the skies, the grounds, then turned back and began to head for the door, but stopped himself and went back to the window. He continued to wheeze, unable to catch his breath.

Obi-Wan suddenly remembered the medical report. Taka had only a single, rebuilt lung. He was probably hyperventilating from whatever he had just done. "Are you all right?" he asked cautiously, keeping his lightsaber handy.

Taka shook his head no. "My breathalyser . . .in my room. Mace is probably there. I – don't want to see him yet."

Kenobi tried to return calm. "Why don't you sit and calm down, ok?"

Taka went to say no, but thought better of it and sat instead. He stood again, remembering his wet clothing. He offered a sympathetic, lost-pup sort of look, and Obi-Wan only felt his heart tear.

"Go ahead, it doesn't matter." He said, sitting opposite of him. For a time they waited in silence as Taka slowly pacified, his breathing returning to what normalcy it had once known.

Unhurriedly, Taka began to speak. He smeared his long hair back into the ponytail a disheveled escape had wenched it from. "I know you were researching my past and I–" He shot up and darted to the window. He scanned the dark landscape, peering through the rain drops and lightning strands. He drew a breath to relax and sat again. "I was going to tell you what had happened. There may be a great deal you do not understand. No one could ever understand. I wanted just to forget it all." He shook his head in sorrow. "How could I possibly have known about the others? All I wanted was to get away. I didn't even look for others."

Obi-Wan nodded. He sensed a great tension, a rift opening in the senior across from him. Again he silently touched his lightsaber hilt. "And your Master was . . ."

"My master." Taka cuts in scoffingly, shaking his head. "My Master." he repeated.

"Did he do something to you?" Obi-Wan asked.

In a shock Taka's entire demeanor changed. He stood and drew his lightsaber, holding it on Obi-Wan. Subsequently, the other was waiting for this and sprung to his feet, letting his own blade reflect the stance of Taka's.

"This wasn't meant to be." he said quickly, almost running over his words (_Just like the chanting,_ Obi-Wan thought). "I didn't know there were others. How could I have? He will return for me, and I will be defenseless. He will take you to. It is for your safety I do this, Obi-Wan. Remember that." His eyes flared with pain and fire, "Remember it!" He screamed. He struck out with amazing strength that Kenobi could never imagine him to have in such a once-battered body. He found himself stumbling behind the couch and before long he was in a corner, Taka's full weight pressing against him, pinning him down.

Taka looked at him. "Stop struggling! If he finds you, you are a dead man! Trust me now!"

Obi-Wan gritted his teeth and shook his head no, trying to push back, using the wall for support. Before he had a chance Taka, with a regretful feature, shifted weight from his right foot to his left, his lightsaber moving to free that of Obi-Wan's, just for a second. With thee force of thee move, Obi-Wan's blade inadvertently fell forward, nearly or possibly so biting into taka's shoulder. If he had managed a wound, Taka did not show it. He instead hit Obi-Wan in the head with his lightsaber hilt. Obi-Wan swayed as his sight went temporarily black. But he was still conscious. He stumbled forward and tried to swing his lightsaber, yet Taka made another mighty swing and the Padawan was unconscious on the floor.

Taka looked on in disdain. It wasn't the way he wanted it. What other choice had he? He picked the teen up by his armpits and drug him to a utility closet and tied a gag over his mouth to keep him silent and bound his wrists and ankles to keep him from coming out too soon. He then combed the apartment for blankets and hurriedly piled them on top of the still form. The he shut the door with a secured lock. Obi-Wan's friends, Reft and Garen, were no doubt across the hall, watching like the night before. He would be found soon enough. When the moment was right.

Then Taka Nashat waited. Waited as the ship landed outside. Waited as the man entered the turbo lift. Waited as he opened the door. Waited even as he dragged him back into deep space toward Hell and beyond.

But in it all, Reno never found Obi-Wan. It was risky enough, to be sure. If Taka struggled he would be knocked unconscious and then be unable to hide Obi-Wan's Force-signature with his own. Of course Reno combed the apartment. He watched Taka through one eye and carefully opened and closed the doors to the other rooms. When he reached out for the utility closet, Taka tried to keep the shutter from his breath. That sudden spike of fear from his body. For anything of the sort would be the exact alert Reno would be looking for. The man opened the door, glanced down on the blankets and linen, and closed it again.

Reno never found him. Never even suspected him.

Taka knew Obi-Wan wouldn't know what had happened, but perhaps there were security cameras that laced the apartment. Maybe someone could know the truth. If not, he was a lost.

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Now, please! PLease! PLEASE! review! 


	5. Delayed Stories and More Questions

Thanks for the reviews you kindbloaks out there! now, on with the next tale!

Chapter 5 -Delayed Stories and More Questions-

Qui-Gon entered his room, mind bursting with a million stories. He had reviewed the night's events a thousand times, hoping to tell them all just so. What he had not expected was three Councilors milling about his quarters, Obi-Wan lying on the couch with an ice bag against his head, and Garen and Reft jabbering incoherently.

"What happened?" he mouthed to Obi-Wan, moving swiftly to the Masters.

"I was attacked." Obi-Wan returned silently.

Mace who had watched this looked up with a sigh. "Apparently by Taka Nashat." he ended for Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon's eyes widened, looking around at Oppo Rancis, Mace Windu, and Even Piell, then the mess strewn about. He expected Mace to continue on with an explanation, but instead it came from Obi-Wan.

"He showed up." Obi-Wan stated, "Wanting to tell me what happened. What really happened to him. He was worked up and agitated already. I mentioned his master once and that's when he flipped out. He drew his lightsaber, I drew mine, we fought," he rubbed the two knobs on his head, "I lost."

Now Reft spoke up. 'Taka left with some guy pushing him from behind. We came in and found Obi-Wan tied up in the closet."

Qui-Gon sat, unable to believe it all. He had hoped with all sincerity that the rumors were false, and here had he been wrong? Could his apprentice have been killed if Taka felt such necessity? But that didn't make sense, why only knock him out?

"Obi-Wan showed us your findings." Mace replied. "We are all fearing the worst."

"We must find him." Even now spoke, "I am not yet convinced of his guilt. Do we know anything of the man who took him? That would be a more substantial clue."

Reft shrugged. "He did seem familiar. Like I had seen him somewhere important. Human, blond hair, tall– Garen, didn't he look familiar?"

Garen smirked. "Of course he's someone important you brainless gundark! He's one of the top officials in the Business District, right next to the Senate. What was his name?" he tapped his foot in thought, "Regis, Ronin, Rinu–"

Oppo held his breath, his face pale. "Reno? Reno Candula?"

Garen snapped his fingers. "That was it! I'm sure of it."

Mace looked grave. Qui-Gon could sense the new tension that set in. Reno Candula was a genius, coincidently also a former Jedi. In his mid thirties he was already one of the medical world's greatest pioneers and billionaires. His specialty: live tissue donations. Hearts, lungs, livers, muscles, bones, anything a being would pay enough for, he found. Or created as he explained it. Reno always professed his tissues were cloned, but to have such a high success rate at creations, he was always suspected of foul play. Could he possible be kidnaping and body snatching? The idea was positively grim.

"We must speak with the rest of the Jedi Council. Perhaps the Supreme Chancellor also. We will contact you in time, Master Qui-Gon." Even Piell said, leading the others out.

Obi-Wan was starring earnestly at his Master. "Qui-Gon," he breathed, "Taka said something of others. How many more like him can there be?"

Qui-Gon shook his head. "I would hate to know. He attacked you?"

"Yeah, and blasters, he was good. I never had a chance."

The Master stood and paced. It didn't make sense, he never thought Taka capable . . . "You were injured?"

Obi-Wan shook his head no. "Taka rolled his shoulder back after he had cornered me. I fell forward, I may have clipped him. It was a strange move, it wasn't a mistake because you could tell he did it on purpose, but why would he intentionally endanger himself just to knock me out?"

"When Reno showed up he hung around inside for a while before bringing Taka out." Reft added.

Something was obviously amiss. Qui-Gon looked over the closet and the wet tracking foot prints or Taka then Reno. He discovered a jumble of paths. One went to each room, each door, and no further. The other stopped inside at the beds and returned. _Returned why? What were they looking for?_ He looked back to the closet to find, "The blankets."

Garen glanced over. "So? We found Obi-Wan beneath them, as if Taka could hide him from us."

"Beneath?"

Garen nodded. "Yeah. They covered him mostly."

"Master what is it?" Obi-Wan stood now with curiosity.

"Did Taka say anything more?" Qui-Gon asked blatantly.

Kenobi twisted his face in thought. "One thing. That he did this for my own good. That I should trust him, though I didn't."

That was his answer.

* * *

now, if you didn't get a chance to review, do so now please!

Next chapter: The Makings of a Sith Requires Persuasion


	6. The Making of a Sith Requires Persuasion

Sorry for the long silence, but my sis and mum take online classes. They hogged the comp for the last couple weeks with papers and finals. WELLLLL, I'm back, and here is the next tragically gripping chapter. ENJOY!

Chapter 6 -The Making of a Sith Requires Persuasion-

"You really should not hold out on me so." Reno cooed, leaning gently on a table top. "I offer redemption, Nashat. What will those Jedi do when they learn that you killed your Master? Will they forgive?"

Taka closed his eyes, drawling the Force around him to keep his will strong. "We will see."

"Take it. Let all your hate of me, of the Jedi, of your Master," he paused, emphasizing the last word, "use it, Taka. Become what you must be. Join me as my apprentice. I offer no judgement. Your Master made you do it didn't he?"

Taka began to shudder some. He was breaking. It was beginning to strike of truth. His Master had begged for it. Commanded it. Made him swear to kill him. It was his fault, not Taka's. What would happen when Mace figured it out? Taka would be thrown in a new prison. But all this pain, wasn't it Reno's doing? His mind swirled in crazy circles, tears started in the corners of his eyes. "You know my answer." he choked out.

"The Jedi will slay you for your crime. You know that!"

Taka's jaw trembled. "I know it." The tears fell. He did not want to die. Not when it wasn't his fault. Or at least, he didn't think so. He lowered his head, hoping to untangle to webs of confusion.

Reno scowled. "Fine. You drive me to this, know that Taka. All I am doing at this point is to help you from killing yourself the way you murdered another." He flipped a switch on a remote in his hand. The thick metal sheet walls around rose with creaks and scratches, pouring dust. To Taka's utter horror, he was surrounded by cages. At least a hundred just like his. The rotted, smelling skull of his master starred at him with foreboding eyes from its seat on the chair as if to be a witness to his conviction.

Reno went to the closest cage and stole a small child from within. He dragged the little girl to her knees beside the head. Her hands were bound and she hunched with fear. Reno drew his lightsaber and held it over her shoulder, daringly close to her neck.

Taka's face changed to one of horror. "No!" he screamed, stepping forward and resting his hands on the bars of his cell.

"Then pledge to me!" Reno screamed.

Taka turned away, frozen from interfering. He tried to access the Force, but Reno blocked him. "Don't do this . . ."

"Save yourself, Nashat. Save her. Now do it! Revoke the Jedi, those liars that take you back. They'll kill you, Taka! I offer safety!"

The girl shivered, looking at Taka with terror.

"Much worse could happen if she is released onto a slaver ship, you know that." Reno smirked. "Remarkably well might I say. Or will I sell her body to the highest bidder? I fetch pretty credits from Jedi parts! Now command me. Take her life. More blood on your soul, or join me. I can help you. I will forgive you."

The tears made pools beneath him. "How could I?" he whispered.

"Decide!"

"I can't . . ."

"Tell me!"

The girl sobbed.

Reno Candula grimaced angrily and moved to slice her head off. He raised the lightsaber in a practiced art and struck. This would ensure Taka's final defiance.

Nashat leaned forward and placed his hand in the way. It was a risky move, but Reno paused in time.

"I . . ." Taka stuttered, collecting his thoughts, calming his soul to a new path. "I'll do it. I'll follow you." It was the only thing that made sense. He knew Reno spoke truth. That all the pain Candula afflicted served to strengthen him like any Sith Master would. This was the right path. At least, it felt right.

Reno smiled, kicking the girl aside. "Then I have a task for you."

:-:-:

Short, I know, but it was action-packed, wasn't it? How sad, he is now the enemy!Will Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon be aware of the change? Will Mace be Taka's first assignment of doom? Tune in!

Next time--- Chapter 7: Where Little Revelation Comes, But . . . . . . ---


	7. Where Little Revelation Comes, But

done in a rush, so try and pass over the possibly atrocious spelling errors!

Chapter 7 -Where Little Revelation Comes, But . . .-

"I believe it obvious that your Jedi pupils are mistaken." a representative speaker for Reno Candula said.

He stood in the large business room of the Replica Corp. building in front of his client's desk. The Council stood also in sporadic arrangement. Reft and Garen remained on either side of Yoda, clenching their fists and trying not to say anything. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were silent as gargoyles, wrapped tightly in their flowing cloaks with their hoods drawn low beside the exit door.

"Troubling accusation this is. Ask ourselves of the matter, we needed."

"Understandably so, Master Jedi. But to come badger my client thus of kidnaping and body snatching or what not is bordering on utter harassment. One leak of this to the press, a single misguided word, and it would be ruin on Mr. Candula's spotless reputation." The lawyer went on. "He has helped thousands and you come to accuse him of this? Unfathomable!"

Mace Windu took over now. "Surely with Mr. Candula's Jedi history, he can appreciate the need to have this all figured out. My own apprentice is lost. Any information is helpful. All we say is that he was once seen with Mr. Candula."

Now Reno stood and fixed all eyes on himself. He spoke with peace and eloquence, moving to stand before Mace. "You have me squared, Windu. I am but an insect with his wings stuck to the walls. I knew Taka. I was who saved him from a hut on Tatooine. That is who the scars were formed of. Some close friends of mine have not held lets say, the most esteemed of social statuses. I was dining with one on Tatooine when stories of the slaved Jedi reached me. Very troubling, all of it. So I bought Taka's freedom."

"On a slaver ship was Nashat found." Yoda pointed out, remaining ever skeptical.

Reno waved his hand. "An unfortunate event. He was stolen from me when my ship was attacked. It was on every news channel, surely you've heard of it. I thank the stars he was rediscovered."

Mace dipped his head. "Thank you for the time."

The group left to collect briefly outside the Replica Corp. building. It was at this juncture Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were summoned forward.

'Spotless reputation indeed!" Adi Gallia huffed. "This lawyer is gravely misinformed himself!"

"I did not believe a word of it. We must act swiftly." Mace replies, then to the waiting team, "Reno Candula was removed from the Jedi on the advice of his Master. He was a troublesome boy to begin with. We thought a good Master could solve him, and apparently not. He finely gave in to hate on a mission. It was reported he nearly killed some innocent people."

Obi-Wan's surprised features were masked by the drape of his hood, but the Master's could sense his unease.

"I know Taka is here, somewhere. Since Reno has not seen your faces, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, I set it to you to find him. May the Force be with you."

The two bowed and the Council departed, with Garen and Reft behind them.

Obi-Wan watched them a moment before following his Master back inside. The matter was troubling him greatly now. Was Taka to be trusted? Was he a victim?

"Padawan."

Kenobi moved swifter to catch up. His mind was unclear, too full of questions.

:-:-:

Reno sat with one leg draped over the arm of his chair. He watched a video monitor with Taka obediently beside him. "Who are they?"

"Qui-gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. They have been investigating me." Taka replied. He was completely emotionless, face a mere blank stair.

"Do they know anything?"

"Possibly."

Reno paused a moment in thought. "Go to them. Lie. Get yourself close to Mace and carry out the plan."

"Yoda would seem a better fitting target, Master."

Reno sighed as if he were speaking to a child. "Yoda is intuitive, he would see the move come. Mace is clouded by his attachment to you. Go, and do not fail me, or so help me you will be the only living being under thirty in those Temple walls."

Taka shrugged. "What do I care of that? Threaten my own life. That is at least important to me." He bowed and left to his task, black robe draping behind him.

From the video feed, he had already gathered the general location of where the investigators were headed. The entire matter was less objectionable now. Reno had made a valid point, after all. Here the Jedi who had helped him would turn just as quickly when they knew the truth. All the rage returned when he thought of it. Amidst the pain, screams, terror, he never remembered actually sticking the knife in for the killing blow. When the air was still, that was when he knew for certain what he had done to his Master . . .

After all that, how could anyone forgive him?

:-:-:

Qui-Gon led his apprentice through the under ground passages of the Replica Corp. building. He had to mind trick a group of four guards, then another two troops of the same just to get one flight below. It was simple, sure enough, but so many sentries were beginning to worry him. In moments they were upon a third.

"Halt and state you name, stranger." One pronounced gruffly.

Qui-Gon never paused. He waved his hand and called the Force to reach into the man's mind. "We have proper clearance, let us pass unnoticed."

He moved to walk through the door when the guard blocked his path with a long pike.

:I said, state your name, stranger." he growled, drawling a blaster with his free hand. "I'm Clothan. Not a mind trick in the world would help you through me, Jedi."

Qui-Gon smiled and stepped back. Something was definitely behind those doors. A dark, misty rise in the Force masked and strangled with hate and suffering. It was staggering and he needed to reach it.

Obi-Wan moved to the opposite side of the Clothan who's third and forth eyes followed him directly.

The Master drifted his hand toward his lightsaber and with lightning quickness–

Taka appeared through the door. Assessing the situation in an instant he commanded the guard, "Set back to your post, these are Jedi. If you think you can take them, you are more foolish then you are given credit for."

Qui-Gon blinked in his surprise, but said nothing as Taka led them back the way they had come. No words passed between them until they reached out doors.

"I'm sorry for my absence." Taka was first to say.

Qui-Gon stopped his walk and looked down at him. "Do you understand the severity of this? Master Windu is broiling, the Council itself on bitter end, the Temple lost in anxiety because of the former . . ."

"Because of me." Taka stated more than asked, a touch of edge in his voice.

Qui-Gon pointed a finger at him. "Loose that sharpness now before you see to the Council with it. What are they to expect being kept in the dark by your silence?"

Taka looked down.

"Well?"

No response.

The Master tried to stem his anger but found it frivolous. "You are no child. Not anymore. Now tell me, this moment, what has become of your Master?"

Taka turned swiftly away and started down the stair cases again. "Why does everyone concern themself over him?" he growled. Obi-Wan quickly caught up and laid hold of his arm. Taka yanked it away, but Qui-Gon stopped him before he could go further.

"You Master was one of my most endearing friends." Qui-Gon was saying, "Now tell us what you hide of him, regardless of what he has done to you."

Taka looked positively menacing, his eyes flashing dark and red. "He abandoned me!" he shouted, "That lowlife, that slime you call a friend left me like every other friend I knew. Is that the answer you want?" He searched him with his eyes, full of pain and mistrust and rage. "He shared my prison and escaped without me. He watched what was done to me and scoffed at my weakness like the evil Sith he was!"

Now Obi-Wan's expression changed. "Sith?"

Taka shut his mouth with a snap and stormed off, catching a speeder that brought him to the Temple.

:-:-;

That's all for now! keep reviewing!


	8. More Lies

Thanks for all the reviews! keep reading now!

warnings: nothing here has been beta-read, hand edditted, or even read allowed. so try to ignor any mystakes which I promise to correct in the future.

Chapter 8 -More Lies-

Taka stood, encircled by Council members in the high room of the Jedi Temple. He was at first silently accepting their chastisement without defense then that same heavy question was again asked of him by Master Yoda.

"Happened during your captivity, we must know. Time we have given you. Trust, you must return."

Taka remained strong and impassive as he recited the well rehearsed story Reno had drilled into him. My Master and I were stranded on Tatooine after returning from a mission. Jogan the Hutt captured us as Jedi. He experimented on us in a lab, trying to discover our weaknesses." He tried to hide his anger. "My master died there. Reno rescued me before the slavers attacked his ship. They had intended to bring be back to Jogan. That is when the other Jedi team found me."

The room was quiet for a long time. Each Master carefully absorbing this. Without words the Council filed out, leaving Mace and Taka alone. This was the moment they planned for.

Mace stood and sighed. "Why have you done this?"

Taka was off-guarded, unable to respond.

Mace remained ever stern. "You have lied to us."

Now Nashat took half a step back. "I have not." he said defensively, eyes flashing with red.

The door opened to reveal Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon.

Taka sneered. "They've fed you lies, haven't they? Just like a Jedi would!"

Windu snapped his head to look at his apprentice. 'What?"

"He told me it was no use. That you would trust me and then take it back. Why hadn't I fully listened?"Taka moved to drawl his lightsaber. He had it in hand, moving to flip the switch–

Mace was faster, setting his own over the younger's neck. "Who told you this?"

Taka fell to his knees and boldly shook his head. "I won't say. The Jedi are all liars and deceivers, you are a Sith . . ."

Mace and the others looked on in wonder. "A name, tell me!"

"Your Master cared nothing for you . . ."

"Taka!"

"You killed him.: he bowed his head, hair falling past his shoulders to reveal something, a strange mark, a chip, just at the base of his skull. "I killed him" he cried painfully.

Obi-Wan knew Taka meant to have his head severed, a ritual often practiced with rejected Sith apprentices. Was he all wrong? Was Taka a murderer? Or was he still holding back the truth?"

Mace placed a hand on the strange implant, looking to Qui-Gon to beacon him closer. Did you read of this in the medical report?"

Qui-Gon shook his head.

"The Jedi are liars . . .they left you hear to rot . . .you killed your Master . . ." Taka continued to ramble lowly and it was at once they realized this conspiracy was not flesh deep. The man that had done this got into Taka's very mind.

"Get his arm. We'll take him to the healers, sedate him there." Mace instructed, helping Taka up with one arm around his waste. The Knight-to-be was un complete shambles, murmuring delusionally. Mace listened to him closely for clues of what truly happened.

"I'm sorry, Master. I promised to kill you, but I failed."

"I'm glad for it." Mace replied, stepping into the turbo lift.

Taka stumbled, but the two kept him up as Obi-Wan pressed the room number in the lift.

"I didn't know about the others," he continued "that poor girl. He'll kill her, probably . . ." he sighed. "So many stars, and I was so close. I never knew of the others." His body made a sudden shake and he threw the two Masters off. He backed away from them, into a corner of the lift. His eyes looked dizzily around before he slowly shrank down the wall. He was no longer breathing.

:-:-:

ooohhh, cliff hanger!

Next: Chapter 9 -In Which He is Gone-


	9. In Which he is Gone

ok, even though you totally will not believe this. I have been busy! my 1 cat died, 2 were diagnosed with completely unrelated cancers, I'm managing 4 clubs, 3 college groups, 1 archery team, 1 future publishing contract, and Nanowrimo next month. dude, I'm BUSY BUSY BUSY!

so, here she is late, but beautiful. I changed the ending . . . .again . . . .but this one is better!

Chapter 9 -In which He is Gone-

Winna had worked tirelessly with her team to try and reestablish a proper airway within the young patient. It was labor some work involving too any medical terms for Mace to rightly commit to memory. What was understood was the fact that Taka had lived. Shaky, though his connection with the current world was, he had lived. That is why, in his state of recovery no one had considered the possibility of what Taka Nashat had done.

Before anyone knew he was able, before the new scars healed, and even before he was known to awaken from his drug induced coma, Taka was found missing. The healers searched the whole of the medical wing and found but a single trace of him. A note left in the free floating bacta of the shattered tank he had once been in.

Without daring to read it, Winna brought the note directly to Mace and the waiting Council, who had become understandingly disturbed at it all. Watching the flickering figure of the escaping Taka from the security videos, Mace passed his eyes over the letter before giving it to Plo to read aloud for the benefit of the others.

"_I'm sorry I have failed you, Mace." the letter read, "Even as I returned to the Jedi I held on to the mental scars of my captivity. As it seems my oppressor has not taken me alone, but a score of others who would suffer at my personal freedom. That I cannot allow to happen. I revoked my Jedi heritage once. It was forced but none the less forsaken. I now act under my own power and return to my captor. Perhaps I will find a way to save us all. Until then I say goodbye with a warning to take care of the younglings. Do not let them fall from site, not on your lives. Wish the Force to protect me."_

Plo Koon closed the letter.

Mace stood angrily and turned away from his counterparts. Just beyond those building walls before him he could imagine Reno Candula, sitting lavishly at his utter ease as Taka kneeled next to him in a bond forced by duty. He would not let it go on. He would go after Taka and –

An enormous explosion blew out three windows in front of him. The Replica Corp. Building was erupting in flames.

Ki slipped his arms beneath Mace to help the stunned leader to his feet. They at once sped from the Temple as they knew very well Taka may be caught inside.

Even for the Jedi Council itself, it was impossible to get into the building. Earth quakes of explosions erupted now and again, reigniting the once doused flames. They instead were reduced to watching and helping if it were possible. It was Qui-Gon's sly cunning that led them to an unprotected area at the back of the building. A splinter group followed him in, Obi-Wan, Mace, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Eeth, and Adi Gallia. It was difficult goings. The air was black with char and smoke. Walls and walkways and ceilings collapsed at each turn. They could at once be trapped within. It was a combined difficult effort to try and move on. Qui-Gon was leading the group, he and Obi-Wan remembered the exact way they had gone to reach the colossal doors Taka once emerged from to meet them. All along the way they were met by the bodies of those unable to escape the explosions, the death. For now they needed to ignore it, keep their minds clear and focused on the doors Qui-Gon drew them to. The doors that hid the pain.

Each paused momentarily to take the new sight in. The thick blaster proof bulkheads were blown apart, as if an enormous wave of energy ripped them asunder. One remained on its sliding hinges, crippled and mangled as the other lay just as distorted below it. The splinter group went on guard at once. The only thing that could have taken them off short of a proton torpedo was an immensely powerful Force-user. Surely this was not the work of Taka. Who could it have been? Reno?

"Master!" Obi-Wan tried to scream yet his breath released only a whisper. He found himself rising up into the air, floating as if to fly yet the experience was anything but exhilarating. Pain like lightning surround his body, coursing through his veins, he could feel the pangs in the arteries of his heart in the thumping impulses of his brain. He was powerless, limp, suffering.

Qui-Gon rushed toward him. To do what, he had not an idea, but the thought of being close to the Padawan seemed the right thing to do. Ki-Adi-Mundi had to restrain him, reminding stubbornly with harsher words then he would have normally allowed that Qui-Gon could physically do nothing to help him.

Another explosion rocked the ceiling, shaking rubble and powdered drywall over them. Looking through the doors ahead they saw the first form emerge. The flames parted from his path as he strode forward, eyes flaring red and orange, countenance almost glowing with power. His cape fluttered at his back in the torrent of air sucking the flames into tornadoes.

"Taka!" Mace screamed over the roars that drowned him out. "Stop this now!"

"You can't control me!" He replied furiously. The Force was swimming about him in hurling waves like lightning.

"Let him go! Obi-Wan did nothing!" Mace continued to plead, gathering the Force around him in case bargaining failed. At this point he had wished Yoda had come. He never knew Taka was this strong, it was astounding. He had doubts of being able to beat him. Not in this state at least. Not as a Sith.

"Get out of here, all of you! This is my fight!" He continued to press, walking closer in powerful stomps. "Reno! Leave him to me!"

Mace's expression changed as the whole of the group turned back. Taka had not been looking at them, but beyond them, farther down the tunnel where another form stood. Reno Candula equal if not superior to the power Taka was displaying in the Dark Side.

Adi was lifted through the doors, passed Taka who deflected her body away from him with a gesture, sending her instead into a wall. He had ceased to feel. He had given in to the darkness. All that was left was to kill his Master, Reno.

"You want my life, Taka? You want it you blood dog?" He held out his arms, chest bold and out. "Come take my heart!"

Obi-Wan dropped into the arms of his Master. Mace rushed forward and engaged Reno, Ki went to Adi's aid, and Eeth tried to hold off Taka. Obi-Wan pushed his Master away and stumbled to his feet.

"They're screaming. We must help them, Master, quickly. They're screaming." His words ran over themselves, barely tangible as he drew his lightsaber and slipped by Taka and Eeth to go deeper underground. Qui-Gon had no choice but to follow, Adi who suffered little damaged joined while Ki grabbed Taka's arms from behind to hopefully subdue him. Taka struggled against their grip, drawling the Force in to thrust Eeth down the corridor, but the Councilor retaliated with his own mind. A struggle went on between them.

Mace could hardly keep up with the swinging strokes. It was a nonstop dance of which he had not rehearsed and yet found himself still alive through. Reno was skilled, above skilled, he was startling. He lunged, Mace countered and turned backwards, but struck forward. Reno turned with him and blocked with the bottom of his lightsaber close to the hilt then curled the sword over to stab forward in hopes of catching a thrust in his heart. Mace leaned back and swept a booted foot out to trip him up, but Reno flipped back. They circled as the ashes fell.

"Obi-Wan stop!" Qui-Gon ordered. "The ceiling is going to give, the building's coming down!"

"Hold it off, there are so many!" Obi-Wan replied without turning back from his dead run. He finely stopped at another pair of blown doors and walls of fire. He gathered his strength, as a replication what he had seen of Taka, running purely on the net of Force energy surrounding the building. It was taking a toll on him, he knew at any point he could drop, but they needed him. Now more then anything. His eyes rolled back in their sockets, whiting his pupils over with the strength of his move. The flames parted with fury, climbing the walls and licking the ceiling tiles. He went forward, Qui-Gon watching with utter awe. Something had possessed his apprentice that he had never seen before. Adi merely followed, equally confused. In a way Qui-Gon was happy for her presence, partially to help drag his confused, insanity-stricken apprentice away, partly to bear witness of the miracles he was seeing and surely no one else would believe save from the mouth of a Councilor.

But Obi-Wan wasn't crazy. He had found them . . .

Eeth slumped to the floor, blacked out from mental strangulation forced upon by Nashat. Ki in turn retained his locking hold of the man's arms behind his back, trying with shouts only heard as murmurs to calm the padawan's rage. But it was on no use. Taka was dead to the world, consumed with his own hate, spurred by the image of Reno before him gaining the upper hand. Mace made a error. Ki saw it, his concentration distracted waiting like a spectator of a train wreck for the killing blow. That gave Taka his chance. He broke the Master's grip and spun around, bringing Ki's head down into the man's knee. In equal time he brought his other leg up to land a blow across the Councilor's cheek. Ki attempted a recovery, but Taka drew his lightsaber down on his head.

Mace looked up from his knees, blood trailing from the corner of his lip, eye swelling from a strike across it. He could not complain, the battle had not been one-sided. He had sliced near through Reno's left arm, burning also the back of his neck with a just missed stroke. Now, he was disarmed, lightsabers scissored around his neck. That is when the ceiling came down upon Mace and Reno, pulled by the hands of Nashat. Miraculously Mace had seemed to avoid most of the debris and crawled out of the rubble on his own power. Eeth was coming around then and helped him. Taka was beyond his calls, his pleas.

"Stop this now!"Mace yelled. "Padawan please, you have a choice now!"

Taka closed his eyes, tilting his head back as if to gather in sunlight from the sky so many stories up. For a moment, his form looked perfectly angelic, perfectly squared in its purpose. Did he . . .did he really understand? Suddenly Mace was overwhelmed with the thought that the man had everything under control, that things were following a carefully chosen plan. But, how?

"Go. Get out now, you'll not have a chance when I bring the building down." Taka turned to him, his aqua eyes flashing with rings of purity. "Save the children."

Obi-Wan pushed the final load of younglings into the hall with Adi Gallia to guide them. Qui-Gon had already gone ahead with the start of the group, some three hundred heads before, and the building was shuttering on its final legs. Obi-Wan ran back one last time, through the empty stinking hollows of the underground prison, through the wades of blood and bandages that had once been a dissection station, through the rows of animal cages that once held living, unwilling donors. It all seemed empty at last. On his way to the door is when he caught the last glimpse. A cage, set apart from the rest. A lone chair sat beside it with what appeared to be a body –

He had to make sure no one was left inside. He raced forward when he heard someone shout his name and a grip of the Force drawl him backward. Just then the floor above came down in his former position, masking the last cage from view.

Qui-Gon set a hand on his shoulder. "Come on!"

Obi-Wan nodded solemnly, following his Master out.

Mace was shocked to find a procession of rag clothed younglings file into the corridor. He looked back at Taka who had by now moved to the other end of the hall, fighting furiously with a duel lightsaber wielding Reno. Mace took up Eeth's blade and went to catch up with the fight when a wave of Force hit him.

"Keep out of this!" Taka warned him. "Or I will kill you, I swear it!" With that final word the flames blocked the fight, circling the combatants with blistering heat. The charred air suffocating and toxic. The walls on either side fell together, blocking Taka from all view.

Eeth dragged his superior away, adjusting Ki-Adi-Mundi across his shoulders and guiding the line of peculiar children. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were the last out, both casting wary glances to the mesh of steal and granite that trapped Reno and Taka alive. The pair were still locked in an epic battle, striking out with utter fury, regardless of the fruitless nature it held. The flames licked the edges of their tunics, the floor and ceiling tiles swirled around suspended by the products of the Force both were inherently emitting. Fire climbed over their bodies as the lightsabers passed for the last time, Taka's biting with a lethal tongue into the gut of Candula who's only blade fell forward into the chest of his opponent. Reno laughed that cruel menacing laughter, but Taka did not seem to even be fazed. He drew Reno in closer and closer still, pushing the red gleaming blade deeper and batting away the purple of Mace's. Reno's lightsaber dug in until they were merely a nose apart.

Taka now laughed. "What have you aimed for?" he cooed out, ripping off the flamed cloak to give him at least one more minute of life. "You have taken everything from me but the memories. Do you want those? Do you want me to carve my brains out for you?"

Reno looked positively wild, his eyes large as saucers as the fire charred his skin over and he uttered a marauding cry to the rafters which answered by coming down and crushing him through.

Taka staggered, splaying across a piles of rock and debris to gather himself. He looked up to the blocked passageway, then down the opposite way where a small door could be seen behind a scrap of metal. He pushed himself to stand. He had won the fight, now he must live to fight the war, to win the war. Controlling Obi-Wan for some time, pushing his conscious self into him to guide him to the prisoners was enough to drain his life away. The blood seeping through his wound was no aid. But he pushed himself up, pushed himself forward, picking up Mace's lightsaber along the way.

* * *

HAPPY? maybe I'll update soon. maybe . . .not 


	10. Sometime Into the future

Chapter 10 -Some Time Into the Future-

It was the last person Obi-Wan had ever imagined to be crossing the room to stand beside him. A lean figure, gaunt and pale yet holding itself surprisingly erect. Taka Nashat.

Only a week before had the Replica Corp. building fallen to its doom, collapsed beneath the weight of over three hundred strategically placed bombs at various areas of the infrastructure. Reno's body was only recovered in part, most of it having burned away into ash with only scraps to identify his body. The saboteur had since been presumed at large, yet Mace Windu and all others involved were near positive it was Padawan Nashat's doing. For good cause or not, many innocent people involved with the Replica Corporation were killed when the building fell. The massacre was unforgivable. Though Taka's body had not been rightly identified, many others had been left unnamed from the extent of the damage to their DNA carrying tissues. He was just assumed to have been one of the unlucky.

What in the mile craters of Luna could he be doing, alive, in the presence of the very men that would testify in his murder trial?

But Taka was nonchalant. He strode in without introduction, interrupting the meeting Obi-Wan had been involved in to brief his Master and he on their next mission to Mustafar. Qui-Gon retained his calm features, allowing a measure of unchecked shock to seep through while the Councilors were half rising with astonishment.

And Taka seemed to not notice at all the buzz his appearance had caused and simply sat on the floor, cross legged and starring at Master Windu. "Good day to you." He said pleasantly.

Good day? He murders over three hundred people and all he can say is good day? Obi-Wan was flabbergasted, as was the Head Councilor obviously for he lacked a response.

Taka adjusted himself a little, still smiling with his eyes delicately. "Forgive me for not standing. It was a long trip up, what with all the pedestrians and stray apprentices wanting to get their looks in. I suppose I am somewhat of a celebrity. But the main reason being, that business the other day left me a little scarred. The flames did wonders for my breathing, I haven't felt winded yet, however a nicely drawn out lunge by Reno did catch me broad chested as it were."

Silence fell once more. A deadened, flat glance passed between Mace and his former apprentice.

"Why have you come here?" He asked, cold, emotionless. As if he had, had no dealings with Taka whatsoever.

The man was obviously unaffected by the brash tones and continued his lounging. "Well, I am one to always repay a debt, though how small it may be." He lifted an object from his pocket, a lightsaber, and used the Force to pass it to Master Windu. "I believed it was yours. Purple Jedi crystals are hard commodities to come by and though I felt tempted to keep it for myself, I don't think they would hide very well."

Obi-Wan inwardly rolled his eyes. Here Taka was feeling convicted of stealing and he was a killer!

Mace didn't pay the return of his treasured possession much mind. He could have made another. What he could not remake was the broken relationship between them. "After all that you have done, that the Jedi must wholly attest to, you return here? Do you know we can not allow you to leave a free man?"

Now the smile in Taka's eyes spread to his lips in a shadow of twisting muscles. He uttered a lighthearted sigh. "Oh, Mace, do you think so lowly of me? Has not Ki told you I spared him? That I could have sliced his brains clearly in two and yet sparred him? Has he not told you the words I said to him?"

Beside him Ki fidgeted just noticeably. He had told the Council of it all. Taka had pinned him to the ground, rose his lightsaber high to finish his work and yet paused. He came in close, whispering over the roars in such a voice Ki was unsure how he'd heard it as his mind was losing consciousness. "I do this for your good, not my own. Live an protect me." Then Taka spun away to engage Reno.

Seeing the awareness of his statement in Mace's eyes Taka nodded. "And yet you accuse me, Ki? When I asked for little more then your good word? I do have no friends in the world." The last part was said part tragically, part melancholy.

"Expect of this Council, what do you?" Yoda was sharp to add now, his patience nearly running its length with the troubled boy. "Lie to us you have, killed many in the building, did you. And forget we cannot the death of your Master."

"Masters." Taka corrected. "Remember, Reno was among that title for some moments. I am sorry for trying to kill Master Windu, but I was influenced you know. Reno had gotten into my brain. As far as the Replica Corp., that was he entirely. I went to rescue the children and," he motioned up to Obi-Wan, "Thanks to the boy allowing me to borrow his conscious self a moment, I succeeded. By the way, how are they?"

Mace raised an eyebrow. "What? The way you were, you want us to believe you had good intentions? We are not fools."

Taka held up a finger. "Ah, now that remains to be seen. I haven't even started yet." He sat back on his palms to relieve the pressure on his wounds and began to launch into his detail of events. All the while, Obi-Wan felt the necessity of leaving, waiting for a stray cue for him to depart and wait until another day to be briefed on his mission, yet seeing as how Taka was ready to involve him in the telling, no such cue came.

"This all actually started on Tatooine. Jogan the Hutt bought my Master and myself when we crashed there, unable to send a homing signal. From there, Reno bought us and dragged us rather unwillingly to Coruscant. Which, we didn't know was Coruscant, you see. We thought it was merely a prison on some sad distant world. We were recorded at every waking hour, why we had not known. It was obvious right off what my Master was to be used for, body parts."

Obi-Wan tried to hide a cringe at the thought, though it made all sense from seeing the state of Taka.

"They were easy on him at first, only taking internal organs. Then skin was ordered, fingers, arms, legs, vertebrae, and I believe the last was brain cell tissues but I can't be certain. I do remember his skull was open. Before that he had tried to escape. Made it to the solid doors of our prison before the guards dragged him back. He never took me, never even offered." his eyes twinkled some reminiscently, not looking at anyone in particular.

"Well, long story short, I woke one day with him beside me in my cell, and a knife in my hand. I listened to him scream in my ears, (he had lost a good portion of his brain, so there was not much reason to it all) for me to kill him. On the fourth day . . ." he shrugged. "Well, the next thing I knew he was stabbed to death and having no arms he couldn't have done it himself. Reno dragged him out and sat his body across from me to rot. The flies, though I was starving, I never could bring myself to eat."

It was obvious their stomachs had turned for instead of sitting forward with intensity, many had rested back, trying to seem at ease and in actuality trying to calm their minds of their horrid thoughts.

"I was slowly robbed of life until being sold as a full living spare parts package to an former Senator in . . .oh I forget where. I was transported on a slaver where you found me generously enough–"

Mace looked up. "Why. Why now are you finely coming out with this?" He stood, feeling the need to simply to withdraw the tendrils of the spider web thoughts out of his mind. "And how can we trust the words from you now?"

Taka sighed. "Ah, the difficulties. Well, I have no good answer. I can't prove anything past looking at the now destroyed tapes. Oh, and it was really your fault I said nothing sooner."

Obi-Wan shot a look down at the man sitting beside him as a wave of energy rippled like a tide through the room.

He nodded. "Oh, it is true." he dug into his pocket and drew out a small piece of metal scarcely the size of pin head. "You had seen it, found it I mean one day and yet did not remove it. I could have died when I came out of my coma and found it in place. A chip, yes, one which controlled my mind directly, preventing me from saying a word of what had happened. As well as a constant repeated phrase. One I could never escape, 'I am a Sith, the Jedi are all liars and deceivers, I killed my Master . . .' brain washing, simple and easy to install, impossible for the wearer to mention or remove of their own accord." He sighed. "I would have had you severe my head to drive those voices out. I'm sure you found bodies in the building like it, those poor sufferers who could not stand the voices and dug themself free on sharpened bars."

Mace turned away, unable to find words.

Yoda answered this time. "And yet kill innocent people you had. Unforgivable it is. Arrested you shall be." he looked somewhat saddened, eyes sympathetic. "Sorry for your troubles the Council is, yet excuse the decision you have made it does not. Prove it is you, we can not, but tried on the death of your Master, you will be."

Taka stood. "I understand without much surprise to it. I only wished you to know what really happened. Well, goodbye, Masters. I'm sorry I was a failure to you. That I couldn't cut the Jedi way of life. Perhaps the Sith did have a hold of me." he said the last quieter, then more open "Will they kill me?"

"Depend on that, the judgement does."

"I don't want to die. I have been evil, but I still want to live, even if I am behind bars for the remainder of my life. I don't imagine they would keep a saboteur around though. So again, goodbye to you. I face my executioner." He bowed respectfully, then eased out with the same calm with which he came in, straight into the arms of the Jedi guards who would escort him to prison.

* * *

yeah, corny way to begin the end, but i think it gets better. Next is the last chapter!


	11. the End

Chapter 11 -the End-

The room was silent some moments, then Mace beat a hasty retreat after him. Ki sent out a wave of the Force to hold him back.

"Mace, we can only help him if he asks for it. His mind is close, but he is not yet ready to hear what you will tell him."

Master Windu looked at him fiercely. "So we let him believe he is a murderer? Regardless of the fact we know different?"

"For his own good, this decision is. Made peace with his crime, Taka has, to break it would harm him more then good."

Obi-Wan looked between the two, unable to stop from uttering, "he didn't kill his master? And you wont tell him?!"

The Councilors looked surprisingly at him, as if he was forgotten.

"The films Taka mentioned, we found them. Reno killed the Master while Taka slept." Ki informed him as if the knowledge was common. "He has thought himself a killer for over a year, it is only now he set himself peaceful and with the evacuation of Reno's control on his mind, he is still fragile."

"And a murder trial will help him? That's stupid!" Obi-Wan clamped a hand over his mouth excused himself hardily and raced out past Mace.

Windu only looked after him, thanking him for supporting his own opinion. He followed Obi-Wan out. "Taka!" he called ahead as the Jedi were helping him into the lift. "Taka, wait."

The young man looked at his superior. "Yes, Master?"

"You are no murderer."

Taka smiled. "I wish I could believe such a farce, but knowing it not true it is quite impossible for me to do."

"We know you didn't kill your Master."

Taka sighed deeply. "You are well aware that is not the truth, sir."

"It is. We have evidence of it if you do not remember."

"Master–"

"Believe me, Taka!" Mace grabbed his arm and tugged for emphasis. Realization seemed to flicker in the young man's mind. The dullness faded, replaced with a flicker of hope. "Reno was the man. He did it all. He planted the explosions when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan figured him out, Jinn told us so–"

Obi-Wan who had tried not to overhear from behind them suddenly flushed red. His Master hadn't told him anything of that. Did he really not trust the padawan with the information?

"The slaying, it was he, the kidnaping, the pact with the hut, none of it is the result of you, the children testify to that. The children you rescued through Obi-Wan. Do you trust me enough to believe it?"

Taka's eyes almost seemed to tear partially. "Then you are sure of it?"

"Positive."

The man smiled. "Good. Then I am to live out my life? Short or long? No more prisons?"

"None whatsoever." Mace couldn't keep hidden the pride in his voice. Taka would be reaccepted, given an opportunity to pass the trials, (since his infamous news had scarred the Master's from wanting to take him on). Taka would get everything Mace had initially wanted for him. All taka would have to say is–

"No."

Mace, Obi-wan, the two sentries each took a shuttered step of shock.

Taka smiled. "The galaxy is my abode, dear Master, nothing else matters. The jedi would be another prison. The Force only brings me grief now since I have tasted the supreme hatred of the Darkside. I think I will wander the stars, find a place of my own, and try to live what can be considered a normal life. Thank you for bringing me that peace. It means the world to me. You have given my life back." He stepped back, bowed, and headed into the turbo lift. "Heading down, Padawan Kenobi?"

Obi-Wan nodded weakly, forgetting about his own existence for a moment, then joined the man in the lift as it headed downward. The lift hadn't even reached a few levels down before the padawan turned and opened his mouth. "Are you insane?"

Taka looked at him. "Huh?"

"Insane? Crazy? Are you?"

"I don't think so."

Then go back and tell them you'll rejoin! The Council doesn't reaccept a former Sith everyday of the calender year. In fact I never read of it happening in my existence! Go back and tell them you accept!"

"I can't."

Obi-Wan threw his hands in the air. "Oh for pity Force's sake, your completely loony. To not do it. To not come back, Taka, you are . . . you are . . ."

"I'm happy." the man put in, smiling delicately. "It is the only thing that matters."

"Well, sure, but, oh forget it." His floor signaled and the Padawan walked out with Taka in tow. They stopped first at the older's quarters where he packed the few necessities he owned. He was truly a Jedi in every way. No attachments, no possessions, no love, simply an affiliation to the Force and respect for the Council outside of nearly murdering one of them.

"Actually it was two." Obi-Wan thought aloud.

"What?" Taka asked, shouldering his bag.

"I was thinking of how many councilors you almost killed."

"I think four."

"Four?"

"Mace, Adi Gallia, Eeth, and Ki."He thought a moment. "No one else?"

"Well, me, but I'm no Councilor."

Taka laughed lightly, closing his door and leading the way down the hall. "I tried to kill you? When?"

"Same as most of the others. I couldn't exactly breathe twelve inches over the ground as you strangled the life from me."

"Oh, yes, sorry about it then. But it lead to a good cause."

Qui-Gon turned the corner before them, smiling warmly at their sight. He exchanged bows between the two. "Just the two I was looking for. Leaving us, Padawan Nashat?"

The man nodded. "Mace wishes not, but it is something I must do."

The master agreed solemnly. He had hoped Taka would stay on. He would make an amazing knight. His devotion was steadfast and unwavering. "Where will you go? Do you have an idea how you will live?"

"Particularly? No. I have no family. No affiliations beyond the temple less then six months old. I am my own man it seems."

Qui-Gon pulled out a data pad and small access card from the pocket in his tunic. "I expected this, actually. Please, take these. At least I can give you a direction. On Master Windu's behalf of course."

Taka nodded cordially and accepted the gift, raising his eybrows some at the name on the data sheet. He looked up at Qui-Gon curiously. "But, Master, who . . .?"

"Take the adress in silence." Qui-Gon warned. "And of the greatest confidence. The owners of the home I send you to are extremely dear to me. do not let them down."

Nashat smiled delicately and agreed, bowing. Obi-wan, strained to see the adress his master had given the man but could see little more then the words "Calypso and Tco-S--" He felt his cheeks redden again from being excluded from this also. It was not a good feeling. He was jealous, it was true. Having Taka leave was making him happier then it should have. His life was going to return to the stablle environment where apprentices didn't kill Masters and the Sith were long destroyed by their hatred.

Seeing taka off the landing platform, Qui-Gon suddenly drew the man in affectionately, whispering "Perhaps my father can sort your thoughts. Listen to him, and learn. Good luck to you Taka."

The man smiled, bowed to both and mounted the platform of his transport Qui-Gon had prearanged for. The pilot gave a short wave and Obi-wan imagined a look of recognition and secretive gleam in his Master's cool eyes.

"Where is he off to?" The apprentice asked as they made there way back.

"that I cannot say."

Obi-Wan looked down at his shuffling feet, having expected the answer.

"I'm sorry to have been keeping these secrets my Padawan. You mean the world to me. I can not have you defying the council as I do." A friendly hand patted the Padawan's shoulder. "Then it would be Yoda having me strung up in the rafters of the High Hall."

Obi-Wan couldn't hold in his smile besides the fact he was trying to be an angry jedi. This held its double trickiness seeing that Jedi were peaceful and couldn't display anger, and if he did he would be lectured insesantly and . . .

"One day i'll tell you. That I promise. Or you'll simply figure it out on your own. that isn't impossible."

Obi-Wan looked up. "Is it really that bad?"

"Close enouh to be extraceted from the entire Order."

Obi-wan smirked. "Now, Master, do not give me reason to kill you."

* * *

well, took sometime to end, but there she is. I may make a sequal involving Taka living with the jinn family and a mystery of some sort, bt we'll see where life leads. I did this mainly in the browser window without a spell checker access, so sorry for the wrong things.

For those who do not know, the ending is refering to the "jinn fmily" I created for my book "The Jinn Rage". Taka isn't in it . . .yet . . .but like i said i may do a new book with him now that his character is established.


End file.
